Our Villages: Helping English Language Learners
Prince George's County Memorial Library System, Md.
Innovation Synopsis
Kids Achieve Club is a program that engages, educates and enriches the lives of elementary school students who do not have caregivers who can provide the needed guidance in their academics to succeed. KAC helps student English Language Learners through mentoring and providing homework and reading assistance.
Challenge/Opportunity
The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System serves the nation's 25th largest school system. Our students speak 165 languages and are from 147 countries. This school year, 2017-18, about 30 percent of kindergartners are English Language Learners. PGCMLS, with its 19 neighborhood branches, embarked on a mission to close the educational gap and provide needed support for these families by facilitating weekly after-school programs at 13 branches.
Key Elements of Innovation
More than half of the KAC programs run simultaneously with our English Conversation Clubs to help the children’s parents improve their English. It has taken a village of thoroughly trained staff and volunteers to operate these programs smoothly. When the school year is over, the Summer Edition of KAC will continue as a six-week series at multiple locations with an emphasis on reading practice and instruction.
Achieved Outcomes
Although KAC was created to help English Language Learners, it is an inclusive program open to all children in Grades One through Six. Many students have benefited from KAC and offering it simultaneously with the English Conversation Club has made it worthwhile for their parents as well. Since the creation of the Kids Achieve Club, more than 2,709 and counting students have been helped.